Amy Adams Pays Tearful Tribute to Philip Seymour Hoffman

Amy Adams was moved to tears when she remembered Philip Seymour Hoffman and how he was on the set and behind the scenes.

Adams sat down for a taping of Inside the Actors Studio at Pace University in New York just three days after the actor died of an apparent heroin overdose. It was when host James Lipton asked her about her performance in Doubt that Adams began to crumble. Lipton said that he brought Hoffman to the same spot fourteen years ago, predicting that the actor would become the greatest of his generation.

Turning to the audience of aspiring actors, Adams said “I wish you all could get the chance to work with him,” before she broke down. Hoffman, she said, had an exceptional ability to really see people, not just look through them. “He will be missed,” she added.

Adams and Hoffman had been friends since they co-starred in Charlie Wilson’s War in 2007. They were also cast in Doubt in 2008, for which Adams received her second Oscar nomination, and in The Master in 2012.

Adams expressed what a joy it was to work with Hoffman, and how so many people loved him. Her distress over his death became even more apparent when she said, “I just don’t know how much more I can talk about it right now. Sorry.”

After regaining some composure, Adams went on to give praise to her Doubt costars. It was amazing working with Hoffman and Meryl Streep, she said, who, aside from talent and skill, had great work ethic and a “generosity of spirit” to involve others on the journey to a wonderful story. As actors, both Streep and Hoffman have the ability to create a world that felt real, “And it’s transformative,” she said, while crying. Streep and Hoffman also earned Oscar nominations for Doubt.

“He’s a beautiful spirit,” Adams said of Hoffman. “I just really loved him.”